Diagnosis and predicting severity in acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis is an inflammatory disease of pancreas which come from various etiologies. The pathologic spectrum of acute pancreatitis varies from mild edematous pancreatitis to severe necrotizing pancreatitis. To diagnose and to predict severity in acute pancreatitis, various biochemical marker, imaging modalities and clinical scoring system are needed. Ideal parameters should be accurate, be performed easily and enable earlier assess. Unfortunately, no ideal parameter is available up to date. Serum amylase and lipase are still useful for the diagnosis but meaningless in predicting severity. C-reactive protein and inflammatory cytokines are promising single parameters to predict the severity. CT finding is also an useful determinant of severity, but is expensive and is delayed in assessment.